The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-11-19
IN HANp-sHAKINo,
RY ALKx. SWEET.

The manner In which different peo- pie shake hands varies as much as the tones of the voice, and is as much an index to the character of these people as the voice is We will take some of these people as they are to be met any day on the street.
 The large fat man, who does not wear a collar, who perspires 80 much, and who Is always wiping his face with a red handkerchief. reaches us moist hand that feels likc a dimes worth of link sausages, and has about as much life in 1t as a bundle of fruit has. He lays his hand In ours In slow indifferent way, and immediately ceases to take further action in the operation. He seems to feel that his responsibility In the matter ends whom he deposits his hand in ours. When we give 1t shake and find no re- ciprocal action in 1t, we drop the thing and realize that the owner of that hand is not the kind of man we would like to ask for the loan of i've dollars, unless we needed the money very badly.
 Next we meet man who gives our hand four or Ave robust shakes, al. most enough to dislocate our anat- omy, asks us how we do and does not wait for an answer. Ther0 Is no warmth of feeling or sympathy ex- pressed in the shake. His creditors say that he Is man of promise, He is the sort of man we would not care t.N tr,,sf xvtth an t,nnnetn oa as,.,ssaA .,r large package of uncounted money.
 Here comes the man who catches us by the hand, begins with crescendo, and keeps on until he reaches the di- minuen3o shake, after which he still retains his grasp, lays his dlscngagcd hand on our shoulder, and leads lis into a doorway, while he proceeds to iisgorge chunk of uninteresting news that was ancient history week ago. He does the same thing and tells the same news to the next man he suc- ceeds in capturing, He is the oonf- dental bore, and should be avoided,
 When we get rid of him, we meet a wiry, active, quick gaited man, who gives our hand three energetic shakes without any trills or scmi-quavers about them, but those three shakes, convey the idea that the shaker k a business man, abounding in confidence in himself Ile does not indulge in useless compliments or stereoty ped phrases. II he has anything to say he says 1t in tersc terms, AS If he was writing a cablegram, and passes on. i He is prosperous merchant, and If he does not break down from overwork he will bc worth million some day |.
 Next comes the young old man who struts as he walks. He holds out two fingers to bc shaken. lie is the pn- tronizing crank, and gives what might be called the cold shake. His grand uncle was hair-cutter extraordinary, by special appointment to George the Third, or something of that sort, and he feels that he owes It to his grand : nnclc's memory to keep up the dig nifty of the family, which he thinks Is best done by penurious use of his digits among his acQuaintances. To hand him two fingers to shake would be good way to rctaliate, If it was not for the fact that his brain is too small 10 grasp that amount of hint all at one time.
 The man with a long, thin, cold hand, who seems to grudge the use of his fingers, and only lends about thrcc inches of their tips for single shake, is not man of extravagantly gener- ous impulses, and will never bc likely to die of enlargement of the heart, but when we meet man who gives our hand tight grasp and q hearty shake, who seems to put his whole soul Into 1t, and to like the exercise so much that he gives us an encore, 30 to speak, we know that he Is q friend to be trusted.
 There arc many other varieties of shakes, that might be described. We believe that not only hand shaking but the hand itself, would indicate . InaiI's character as wei as Il phreBo- logical chart of his head would do. Why does not some one study the sub. jectI We suggest that some crank who Is in need of hobby should give the matter immediate attention. .--- Drdkes Mdgdzfne.